


Be Prepared

by Small_Hobbit



Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:09:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4098853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Watson has been rendered unconscious.  On wakening he finds some unexpected allies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Prepared

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Watson's Woes June prompt "Be Prepared".
> 
> Given that prompt there was only one way I could go.
> 
> This plays slightly with the timeline, but then ACD wasn’t too strict himself. Set in 1912.

I was definitely getting too old for this I thought, as I regained consciousness. Holmes had been encouraged out of semi-retirement by a case which had implications for national security. He had asked me to observe the movements of two men who his suspected of involvement in the case. All I was required to do was take a bracing walk amongst the lanes of the South Downs a few miles from our cottage. It was to be little more than I did on occasions closer to home.

I had been dropped off at the start point of my route by a driver I suspected was employed by the Home Office. We had arranged a suitable pick up point and I had set off, binoculars in hand to observe the local fauna and flora. Unfortunately my real motive must have been discerned, for I had covered less than two miles when a car had pulled up and two men had leapt out and attacked me. I sustained a blow to the head, which had rendered me unconscious.

I groaned and opened my eyes. A girl about fourteen or fifteen years old was looking down at me. She smiled when she saw my eyes open.

“Please try not to move, sir,” she said. “Your head has been bleeding and I think your arm may be broken.”

I was starting to remember the events prior to my attack. When the car had drawn up beside me I had seen a man in the back seat whose presence had been one which surprised me greatly. I knew I had to get a message to Holmes as soon as possible, to tell him about this. Despite the pain I tried to sit up again.

“Please, sir,” the girl repeated, “Lie down. Vera’s gone to Farlingdon to fetch help.”

“She will take too long,” I said.

“She won’t be that long, sir. She has gone on her bicycle.”

I could understand the girl’s comment, but it was not my own health which concerned me; rather it was the urgent need to get a message to Holmes. I sat up and gave another groan; the girl’s diagnosis was correct, my arm was broken.

“If you do want to sit up, sir,” the girl said, “Let me put your arm in a sling, it will be less painful that way.”

I must have looked surprised for she continued, “We’re Girl Guides, sir. We’ve all learnt first aid.”

“I have read about the Girl Guides,” I replied. “Although this is the first time I’ve met any. I understand you do some of the things the Boy Scouts do.”

“We can do anything the Boy Scouts can do,” one of the other girls said proudly.

I permitted myself a smile. Her remark gave me an idea. “I know the Boy Scouts carry messages,” I said. “Can you do the same?”

“Of course. Tell me what you want to say and I’ll deliver it for you.”

“It’s quite a complicated message. I would write it out, but that’s out of the question at the moment.”

“That’s not a problem.” The third girl produced a pencil and notebook. “If you tell me what you want to say I can write it down and Mary will deliver it.”

Having ascertained this was Elizabeth, (my temporary nurse was called Violet), I dictated the message and sent Mary off with clear instructions as to who the message was to be delivered to.

About twenty minutes later Vera arrived in a cart driven by a local police constable; her bicycle balanced in the back of the cart. After having thanked the girls profusely I was conveyed to the cottage hospital and from thence I was able to return to our cottage.

Many hours later Holmes also returned. He was in fine spirits, although keen to check on my injuries. Mary had successfully delivered her message. She had made the journey in sufficient time for Holmes to prevent sensitive information being passed on to someone who would not have been suspected had I not seen him in the car.

Holmes poured us both a brandy and we toasted the Girl Guides.


End file.
